Commenting on the state of British education from the teaching perspective

Tag Archives: strike

This weekend saw the major teaching unions Easter conferences. There was certainly lots to talk about. Gove. Strike action. Ofsted. They covered it all. I don’t think anyone was overly surprised by the outcome.

Lack of confidence in Gove and his capability to be Education Secretary.

Lack of confidence in Ofsted and what it stands for.

Lack of confidence in the Government and the current pay conditions.

But when all is said and done, is striking the best form of action?

For one thing, some parents and teachers are against it. Why? It takes teachers out of the classrooms and stops them educating the children, which is, after all, why they are there. Some people are against teachers taking strike action because they feel that teachers already get a fair deal and they should just get on with it. Some people think that we’ve all got to help the country get back on its feet.

Some people support the strike because it’s important for teachers to stand up for themselves and what they believe in. If everyone just accepted what the Government did and didn’t make their voices heard, then what kind of nation would that create?! Standing up for decent pay & conditions is right and just, not just for teachers, not just for those working in education, but for everyone who feels that the Government is taking advantage of them, which is pretty much most people.

No one wants to strike. And it might not be the best plan of action. So what are the alternatives? On Twitter, some people are suggesting that instead of striking on a school day, teachers go in on a Saturday and give an extra day. I don’t know if I’d be in support of that, but it certainly is different. What is important is that the message of why teachers are unhappy with Gove, Ofsted and the Government as a whole stays central. Educate the children on what’s going on, create YouTube videos of students telling Gove & Cameron why teachers deserve better pay and conditions, hold rallies and debates to come up with a more creative and positive way of tackling the issues. Because, after all, isn’t teaching a creative profession?! Surely we can do better?

As I was scanning my Twitter timeline, a tweet from @schoolsontap made me stop in my tracks: ‘Teachers should have ‘sabbatical’ to avoid burnout and return ‘refreshed’, says incoming Ofsted head’ and it linked to this Mail article. I couldn’t believe it. I thought, finally, someone gets it. Why would I support such a costly idea? Well, it’s clear from the article writer that they think the holidays are enough. But what if they aren’t?

It’s true. Teachers have three months of holidays a year. And when summer comes along, well, lets put it this way, the MasterCard advert has it spot on! So why aren’t the holidays enough? Most teachers work twelve hour days – at least. They’ll do this for five or six days a week. Teachers aren’t paid for these hours. The salary doesn’t cover work at home in the evenings, weekends or during holidays. You can’t bid for overtime or take time off in lieu of the work you’ve done outside of school hours. You can’t book a medical appointment during school time, unless it’s an emergency. You can’t even go to the toilet when you want.

Why do it? If you want to be a good teacher, or pass threshold & add to your salary, you need to have the results to show that you’re worth it. This requires time and effort. Most teachers teach 21 or 22 hours a week, giving them about 3 hours to do all their Planning, Preparation and Assessment (marking) in that time. If you want your PPA to be good, and by that I mean marking with comments; different resources for your different abilities; lessons that are engaging and challenging, then three or four hours isn’t enough. Lots of teachers in the schools that I’ve worked in have either come in early, stayed late or both. I used to do both. I’d be in by 7.30am and stay till 5.30pm, always working during break and sometimes during lunch. I’d then head home and work until about 9.30/10pm. I’d do this almost every day. And then work for at least 5 hours on the Sunday. Then add on a trip or an off timetable day which your planning for, parents evening, open evening, and the workload increases. Or say the National Curriculum or exam syllabus changes…again. This is not that uncommon.

And those holidays – yep, I’d work in those too. Usually from home where I’d plan, make resources, analyse results, write reports, etc etc. I rarely went back to work feeling refreshed. A friend of mine said to me at the start of term this year, ‘It’s like it never ends – I feel like a hamster on a wheel!’ And that’s the problem. The pressure to perform remains. Every group has their own challenges and each teacher has to show, not only can they get those students to achieve their targets, but that they’re adding value as well.

It was suggested that I take a sabbatical this year, but I knew the school couldn’t afford it. There is no way schools could. What it will mean is that sabbaticals don’t happen. Teachers continue to work themselves into the ground helping students to achieve. They’ll be vilified for the ‘pensions’ strike, which isn’t just about pensions. It’s about standards. It’s about the pay cuts. It’s about job losses. And it’s about teachers standing with other public sector workers saying No. Enough is enough.